Parenting is hard! As parents there are so many choices that can alter the lives of these small humans who rely on us to get their needs met. What do we feed them? How do we talk to them?...

Recently a friend jested on Facebook that he would be tagging myself and my husband every time he passed by a Starbucks; that it would be funny. What was funny is that the jest was a...

If a world is in constant search for the One Right Way, power may become corrupt, and individual lives meaningless to those who control the resources. The One Right Way may become the ultimate goal, leaving behind the importance of nurturing, love, healthy communities & healthy ecosystems.

Homeschooling and Unschooling ...

Posted by mestarr on Apr 30, 20161

Why I Boycott Starbucks

Posted by mestarr on Sep 29, 20152

The Quest for The One Right Wa...

Smokey the Bear is known to say, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Well fear is just like a forest fire, and it can only burn you up and move on to the next victim if you let it. This Year, this Season, this Holiday, give the gift of your love, of your diverse beauty and creativity, and of your open heart, free from fear and anger. Be present for your family and friends, reminding them of what you appreciate about them. Give your unique gifts that help you to feel that bright light that is always you.

All over the planet we hear cries for freedom, and then in our wealthy country we get mad if we have to spend an extra dollar on something that a six-year-old went blind to make us. When we truly get how large our individual impact is on the world we are creating together, I can’t imagine anyone getting excited over choosing spending money on things over spending quality time with people.

As our world faces some very real choices in moving forward as a species, I wonder if each of us are willing on an individual basis to look at where we have judged “ick.” Are we willing to shift to an “art” perspective? And, if not, are we at least willing to “accept” that our point of view isn’t the only valid one? I believe that as we do this, we are participating in healing the entire planet, starting with ourselves. To me, that is the ultimate “Art.”

here I am, in the middle of this awesome life. And yet, even as I type, there is this ingrained part of me that says I can’t feel all the way good about all of my good. Or that somehow by proclaiming my gratitude for all of this goodness, that I am “rubbing it in” for those who may not be experiencing as much good right now. What kind of crap is that?!

I forget, okay. I live in Portland, Oregon, where the majority of people are very concerned about the future of the planet and our ability to shift it toward health and equality for future generations. Where even most of those who don’t care at least acknowledge that there is something to care about. And then there are people who I bump into on social networks.

We can all use practice in saying Yes to that which we want to invite into our lives, and spending less time talking about and thinking about and looking at that which we really don’t want to experience. It is our choice! Saying Yes is like asking the Universe to light a fire underneath our Good to get it cooking faster. What are you ready to Say Yes to?

Today, with the help of a loving witness, friend, and assistant searcher (all the same person), I learned something new about myself. It took a while to get there, and it wasn’t very pretty for a moment or two, but I uncovered a very old desire to “be excused.” From what, you ask? Apparently whatever I damn-well please. Just because I’m me – and I’ll tell you whatever story will convince you to agree, or at least let me off the hook. There is a slight element of ‘please feel sorry for me’ in there, too.

Sometimes, I forget what it is I’m really doing here…. I can get caught up in all this DOing and forget about he BEing part of being a Human Being. My life tends to go in waves from not much going on to too much going on, and it can be easy to lose site of the fact that I am the one deciding.

Can you just see adults sitting around a table asking, “Well, did you learn your periodic table?” Why do we feel the need to interact with kids this way? Schooled and homeschooled kids alike, I see them being asked to perform wherever they go. “What did you learn in school today? What’s 3 times 3? How many stars are on the American flag?” And of course, the kid version of “what do you do” is “what grade are you in?” Are we thinking we’re helping them?

Going back to the rubber & glue, I consider this: Is it actually possible to say something shitty to another human being and not hurt ourselves? Whether you think about the energy of something, or the psychology of it, holding on to judgments of others and feeling righteous enough to spit them out is mostly likely affecting us. Or, turning it around, the fact that we are saying something nasty at all shows we are already effected by something, or we wouldn’t be attempting to discharge our crappy feeling onto something seemingly separate.

I believe there are plenty of people out there just waiting to support a bigger, brighter version of you! And those are the people we must choose to give more time than we have given in the past, while being honest with ourselves about how much we’re feeding the naysayers with our energy instead of weeding them out of the gardens of our lives.